Welcome to the real world
by ammstar11
Summary: Nico wonders what things would be like if he was anyone but him, meanwhile Will tries to show him that things are fine just the way they are. Turns out they're better than fine, maybe it's better to live in the real world after all. (Does this count as romance? Whatever, here's some fluff!)


**Welcome to the real world**

 **Based on the song Real World by Matchbox 20**

 **Yes it's another Solangelo get together oneshot but whatever I love them!**

 **Clearly I don't own the characters or song.**

Nico had been sitting in the shade of a tree just letting his thoughts wander as he thought about what things would be like if his life had been different from the way it was when someone came over and sat next to him.

Brought out of his thoughts he looked over to see Will Solace sitting next to him just leaning against the tree behind them.

"What are you doing way over here Deathboy?" Will asked when he saw Nico had noticed him.

Nico shrugged and turned to go back to staring at nothing in particular. "Just thinking about what life might be like if I wasn't the way I am."

He saw Will raise a questioning brow at him from the corner of his eye and let out a small laugh.

"I mean if I wasn't the son of Hades. The others were talking about how things might have been totally different if they didn't have the godly parents that they do and that got me thinking about what my life might be like if that were the case, though I didn't say anything at the time."

"What kinds of things do you think would be different?" Will asked and there seemed to be some strange note in his voice but Nico couldn't place what emotion it was.

"Well, I guess powers and stuff; you know how I can open the ground or control the dead, well for the most part anyway… and talk to ghosts and stuff? Well if I wasn't the son of Hades I'd have completely different powers and I was trying to think of what it would be like to grow up not worrying about creeping everyone out when I used those powers."

He missed the look Will was giving him because he started picking at the grass by his side to avoid looking at the other.

"Well if you did have different powers what were you thinking you'd have?" Will asked and Nico let out a sigh as he thought back to the first demigod he had met aside from and his sister.

"You know how Percy can basically control the weather? He can actually create hurricanes himself if he wanted too, **_I wonder what it's like to be a rainmaker_**. ** _I wonder what it's like to know that I made the rain_**. That just seems like such an amazing ability to have, don't you think?"

Will smiled a bit wistfully but it was replaced with more humor when he heard Nico continue.

 ** _"_** I'm sure **_I'd_** do something crazy like ** _store it in boxes with little yellow tags on everyone_** just because I could **_and you can come see them when I'm done_**."

Will laughed as the picture went through his mind of Nico handing everyone a box with rain in it. "Why yellow?"

"What?"

"You said **_when I'm done_** I'd put it in a box with a yellow tag."

Nico blushed a little as he looked back down. "Well, they do say that yellow is a happy color right?"

Will laughed and placed his hand over Nico's to keep him from tearing up too much grass lest the Demeter campers start throwing a fit, he was happy to note the small jolt that ran up his spine and judging from the way Nico jumped slightly he'd guess he felt it too. "That's what they say." the blond boy smiled wider as he felt the other relax beside him.

…

After a while the two of them got up and started walking back towards the rest of camp together. They walked in silence for a couple of minutes until Will brought up their earlier topic. "Is controlling the rain the only thing you'd want to do if you had any other powers? Is there anything else you've ever thought about if things were different?"

Nico was quiet a moment as he thought about different powers. "I've flown before, and I'm not afraid of heights so **_I wonder what it's like to be_** able to fly like ** _a super hero_** the way Jason does. Sometimes I think about it and **_I wonder where I'd go if I could fly around downtown_**. It'd be like I'm **_from some other planet;_** " he blushed a bit as they walked a little too close and their hands brushed against each other. " ** _I_** 'd probably ** _get this funky high From the yellow_** **_sun_**." Nico laughed at the thought of the others seeing him zipping through the sky like Superman. " ** _Boy I bet my friends would all be stunned_**."

"Well maybe we could do something about that then." Will said and before Nico knew what was happening Will swung him up onto his back and starting running around.

"Wha-what are you doing?!" Nico asked as he wrapped his arms around Will's neck in an effort to not fall off.

"Helping you fly, see you're floating through the air!" Will laughed as he ran a little faster with Nico on his back and he felt Nico's laughter that he was trying so hard to hold in until he finally gave in and started laughing at his attempt to make him 'fly'.

"Well you were right about your friends at least. ** _They're stunned_**." Will said though he knew that it was more likely due to the fact that they were some yards away but could clearly see and hear Nico laughing as Will ran around carrying him on his back.

…

Finally when they were both out of breath from laughing and in Will's case, running, they settled down in Nico's cabin to just sit and talk. They seemed to be doing a lot of that lately and Nico was happy to find that it felt natural to just sit and talk like this.

Will sat on the floor next to Nico's bed with his legs crossed as he leaned back and turned his head to look up at Nico. "So **_straight up,_** why exactly would you want to be anyone else? I think you're perfect just the way you are. **_What did you hope to learn about here_** with all these thoughts about being different?"

Not for the first time that afternoon Nico felt his face heat up as he began to blush as something else that was nagging him finally came forward in his mind. " ** _If I were someone else, would this all fall apart_**?" he gestured around vaguely but still included Will and himself in it, not quite sure what all he was ready to voice just yet.

Will shook his head with a small smile on his lips. "I doubt anything would change this Deathboy."

Nico couldn't help but smile at that. " ** _Strange, where were you, when we started this game,_** normally I escape into thoughts like this because **_I wish the real world would just stop hassling me_** but right now I feel like things are just fine the way they are, you know?"

Will smiled in return. "I have a feeling I do. Well we might as well continue then, if you could be anyone else is there something specific you would do?"

Nico let out a short laugh as he thought about it and climbed to his feet and stood on the bed and struck a dramatic pose. " ** _I wonder what it's like to be the head honcho_** , to be able to order people around like Reyna. **_I wonder what I'd do if they all did just what I said_**."

He got this look in his eyes like he was picturing himself ordering an army. " ** _I'd shout out an order,_ ' _I think we're out of this_**! ** _Man get me some_**!"

He pointed at Will as he made his command and Will started laughing and Nico raised a brow at him " ** _Boy don't make me wanna change my tone_**."

But Will continued to laugh even harder.

"I guess it's going to take more than just **_my tone_** huh?" Nico said as he tossed a pillow at Will from the bed witch only seemed to make the son of Apollo laugh till the point of tears.

When he calmed down Nico threw Will's previous question back at him mixed with his own. "But ** _straight up, what did you hope to learn about here_**? ** _If I were someone else, would this all fall apart_**?" this time he motioned to the space between the two of them. "It's so ** _strange,_** the reason that we really started spending time together was because I nearly faded from over using my powers. But ** _where were you_**? Right there in the right place when I needed you. Just like you were right there ** _when_** I needed you after ** _we started this game_**. Maybe **_I wish the real world would just stop hassling me_** but I'm glad you're here."

Nico sat back down on the edge of his bed and Will sat beside him and hit him lightly on the side of the head with the pillow he had thrown at him.

" ** _Please don't change,_** you've always been so strong just the way you are. ** _Please don't break_**."

Nico laughed lightly as he placed the pillow back on his bed. "I know, everything is so messed up but still **_the only thing that seems to work at all is you_**. So the same goes for you **_please don't change at all, for me_**."

Will placed his hand over Nico's once more. "The same ** _to you_**. I promise I won't change ** _and you_** promise the same ** _to me_**."

"Okay deal, I won't try to change who I am and be something I'm not and neither will you. We'll just continue being us." Nico said.

"Well I hope at least one thing can still change." Will said lightly and Nico looked at him wondering what he meant by that.

"And that would be?" he felt Will squeeze his hand lightly.

"Us." he said simply.

Nico felt those skeletal butterflies come back and flutter around inside his stomach as he let his smile grow and he gently turned his own hand so that it clasped Will's where they rested between them on the bed. "I think it already has."

 **The end**

 **Okay so I've been wanting to write this for a while now and I really needed something to get me away from the wall I've hit while working on chapter 6 if Deadly beauty that I've been working on for nearly a week now… anyway please let me know what you think!**


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